The present invention relates generally to article packagers and methods, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for packaging individual articles, such as can ends for example, in groups within sleeve for protection during storage and shipment.
While the apparatus and method are applicable to other mass produced components, a primary application of the invention is that of packaging can ends in the can manufacturing and filling industry.
The metal packaging industry is one of the major industries in the United States. Measured by the volume of products produced and sold, its statistics border on the staggering. At the present writing, well over 72 billion beer and beverage cans are manufactured, filled with product and sold every year in the United States, and approximately an equal number of cans are filled and sold elsewhere in the world every year. This incredible number is constantly increasing because of the demand for canned products of all kinds.
Most cans now sold for soft drinks and other beverages, such as beer, are of the so-called two piece type, although billions of so-called three piece beer and beverage cans are still manufactured. By a "two piece" can is meant a can wherein the cylindrical side walls of the can and what becomes the bottom of the can in use are formed in a single operation, i.e., they emerge from the manufacturing process as a unit. The second piece is the other can end, lid, or cover; in many cases this end or cover is a part which itself includes not only the end panel and a margin adapted for seaming, but also includes a separately made tab or equivalent form of easy opening device.
So-called three piece "cans" are made from cylindrical bodies formed from flat sheet materials and secured along a side seam to form the cylinder. Such can bodies are then flanged at both ends, and one of the ends is closed off by a separately manufactured can end which is sealed in fluid-and gas-tight relation to the can body at the point of manufacture. In the case of both two piece and three piece cans, the elements made by the manufacturer are transported to another location, which may be nearby or quite remote, for filling, pasteurization where indicated, further storage, and/or transport to market.
Consequently, while can bodies and can ends are made in a single location, the ends and bodies must be shipped as separate units to the location at which the cans are filled and the ends secured to the can bodies. Both can bodies and can ends are made at enormous speeds. However, even if the rates of component manufacture were identical, can ends would still be stored transiently between the time they are manufactured and the time the ends are seamed onto the finished product. This is for quality control reasons and also because the "compound" which lines the periphery of the can end must cure and/or allow solvents or other volatile components to dissipate therefrom before seaming. Therefore, the ends cannot be seamed to the bodies immediately; this requires that the ends be packaged; their source, i.e., the machine in which they were made is then desirably kept track of for quality control purposes.
It is now customary in the can industry to manufacture can ends in a so-called module wherein the end shells are formed from sheets of aluminum or other metal at a high rate, following which the shells are curled and lined with "compound" to facilitate seaming. Thereafter, the lined shells are advanced to so-called conversion presses wherein opening tabs are affixed by the formation of integral rivets, and wherein a characteristic score line forming a portion of the can end panel is imparted so the can readily tear out a portion of the end panel.
It has been customary in the industry up until now to package an array or "stick" of these can ends in a paper sleeve which then is closed off or sealed against dirt and dust at both ends. The stick or package of ends thus segregated and protectively packaged is transported, along with other packaged arrays of ends, to storage for subsequent use or more or less directly to the filling location.
Up until now, the practice of packaging such can ends has been accomplished by so-called manual methods or, in some cases, semi-automatic methods. In the manual method, a continuous array of stacked ends is forwarded to a given location and subdivided into a stick, usually some 36 to 50 inches in length, and generally comprised of some 400 ends, more or less. This stick is then inserted manually into a tube or sleeve of kraft paper having one open end; after filling, the operator closes off the sleeve by folding and/or taping and moves this packaged stack of can ends into a bin or other storage means.
In a so-called semi-automatic end packer or bagger, a similar operating sequence is carried out as so-called continuous arrays or "strings" of ends enter the machine and are counted and then separated into individual "sticks" by a splitting mechanism and separating cylinder and rod assembly. In this case, the operator removes an individual bag from a storage area and places the bag on a loading horn associated with the inbound lane toward which the can ends are being advanced. If several lanes are in operation, several horns are present and the operator places a bag with its open end over the indicated horn from time to time.
Thereafter, the operator signals the machine, by actuating a button, for example, and the bag is clamped in position with a part of its open end on the horn, and a secondary or loading cylinder is actuated, feeding the group of ends into the bags.
With this system, the bags may be clamped automatically, but the bags filled with ends must be manually removed and succeeding, pre-formed bags must then be placed on the appropriate horn for retention in place and insertion of a stick of ends of the desired length.
Because of the difficulty of performing this operation at high speed, and in particular the need to continually remove packages of ends, the operation of even a semi-automatic end bagger can become tedious and labor-intensive. Moreover, the capacity of such machines is limited and there are other drawbacks associated with these systems.
Referring now to another practice in the can industry, as pointed out above, the individual can ends are made on a particular shell press. After this, the ends are arrayed in a stack for feeding to one or more work load regulators, from which they are forwarded to a "conversion" or "tab" press. From here, the ends are again arrayed and forwarded to the end counter/packager just described. For purposes of quality assurance, it is considered at least desirable and in some cases necessary that the individual can ends made from time to time be traceable to one or more particular machines wherein such ends were made, so that if one or more ends in a group proves to be of faulty manufacture, a temporary "quarantine" may be imposed on all ends emanating from such press until the cause of product defects has been located and corrected.
Therefore, it is desirable in handling can ends that individual source accountability for each package of ends be maintained. In using manual or semi-automatic baggers, this requires coding of a bag to signify the associated machines in which it was produced and, according to present practice, maintaining all ends emanating from such press in a particular bin or other storage area so that the foregoing quality control accountability may be carried out.
Because of the shortcomings of the prior art methods just described, it is apparent that there is a need for further automation of end counting and packaging in the can industry. Significant improvements in speed, reliability, and reduced labor costs could be achieved by providing a fully automatic end packager, preferably associated with an automatic end counter. By "fully automatic" is meant one wherein plural arrays of can ends could be subdivided into groups and be continuously fed to a packer which would itself continually advance bag stock in sleeve or other form, and not only position the sleeve stock for bagging but also achieve the entire bagging operation (including closure of first one end and then the other, and removal and storage of the finished package from the machine) without human intervention.
According to the invention, an automatic end packager, has been developed; it is preferably associated in use with an end counter/separator, is capable of taking individual stacks from one or more storage areas or inbound "lanes" picking up the ends in arrays or groups and placing them in a group receiving area wherein they may be advanced under the control of an insertion unit to the interior of a sleeve formed during another portion of the machine cycle. The sleeve is taken from a continuous supply of sleeve stock, advanced by a shuttle mechanism and transiently affixed to a positioner which secures the sleeve while it is filled; end flaps are formed on the package ends and the package thus formed is removed to a storage area on a continuous basis.
In view of the failure of the prior art to provide such an automatic article counter/separator and packager unit, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fully automatic packager for an array of manufactured articles or components.
Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic packager for identical articles, such as can ends, which are manufactured at high speed and which must be packaged for transient storage and/or transport.
A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic packager for can ends or like materials which is capable of being used with new or existing machinery for arraying and subdividing groups of such manufactured articles.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic end packager which includes a plurality of individual stations each operable in sequence to position, advance, and insert a group of articles within a sleeve which is fed from a continuous supply of material tensioned and supported during insertion, and thereafter secured at one or both ends prior to removal of the completed package.
Yet another object of the object of the invention is to provide a packager for manufactured articles which includes a shuttle arrangement for continually advancing individual lengths of a continuous tubular sleeve to an insertion location from a storage location, and tensioning the sleeve while it is positioned for article insertion.
A further object is to provide an apparatus which includes, in combination, an automatically actuated advancing mechanism for an array of manufactured parts, which cooperates in use with a loading head and a sleeve transport shuttle in the formation of individual packages for such array of manufactured parts.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel shuttle mechanism which is adapted for reciprocation under control of a transport mechanism, and which includes means for advancing the margin of a packaging sleeve to a positioner unit and retaining the sleeve in an open ended condition for insertion of a group of individual articles while the sleeve is supported from beneath.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus wherein a length of sleeve forming material may be secured with its leading edge margin thereof held open, wherein the sleeve may be tensioned and supported from beneath during insertion of articles in the sleeve, following which end closing flaps may be formed in the package, the sleeve severed from a supply of sleeve material and the package removed from the feed axis while the leading edge of an upstream, succeeding length of sleeve forming material is engaged and prepared for advancement and repetition of the foregoing cycle.
Another object of the invention is to provide a packaging machine wherein a group of articles is fed in a given direction into an open ended sleeve fed from an opposite direction from a continuous length of sleeve material, and wherein a side frame assembly is provided which includes means for transiently supporting the sleeve and for clamping it adjacent its ends when filled, and wherein removal of the package inherently serves to form end portions of the sleeve into flaps which may be formed into package end closures.
A further object of the invention is to provide a packaging apparatus wherein a group of articles may be fed to the interior of a sleeve which is held in a fixed position with one open end, and wherein means are provided for severing the sleeve forming end flaps thereof and removing the package and depositing it on a positioning unit for subsequent movement to a tape applicator, with such movement including transiently positioning the tray for unloading while at the same time removing the clamps from the package ends after they have been formed into closing flaps.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a packaging apparatus having improved means for providing a succession of packaging functions, including sleeve positioning and gripping, sleeve support, end clamping and end flap formation as well as position transfer mechanisms permitting packaging operations to be performed away from the axis along which the articles are fed to the sleeve during the initial stages of package formation.
Another object of the invention is to provide a an improved package sleeve clamping assembly for use in end flap formation.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved packaging apparatus having an improved means for receiving and positioning a free end of a tubular sleeve and retaining it during article insertion.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus having a novel mechanism for repositioning a being-formed package from a station wherein end flaps are formed on the package to a station wherein closure tape is applied to one or both of the end flaps of the apparatus.
Another object of the invention is to provide a packaging unit which includes a novel apparatus for advancing, wetting and applying a predetermined length of tape to an end portion of a preformed package.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a packaging apparatus wherein novel means are provided for forming individual groups from an ungrouped continuous array of incoming articles, and positioning such groups of articles within staging areas to facilitate transfer of such articles in groups to a desired section of an associated packaging machine.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved article counter and separator unit for use in packaging an array of identical articles.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel method of performing individual packaging operations on a group of articles during package formation.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an article packaging method which includes mechanically inserting a group of substantially identical articles lengthwise into a sleeve section taken from a continuous length of sleeve after positioning and retaining an open end of the sleeve, tensioning it, supporting it from beneath and thereafter removing the package from the insertion area, forming end flaps thereon and removing the finished package from the machine.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention are achieved in practice by providing a packaging apparatus having means for counting and separating continuous arrays of articles into individual groups, transferring the groups to the insertion area of a packaging machine, advancing a predetermined length of sleeve forming material securing the free end thereof in facing relation to the articles in the insertion area, inserting the articles into the sleeve interior, severing the sleeve while supporting the package from beneath, forming end flap sections thereon and thereafter folding the end flaps while removing the package to a storage area.
The manner in which the foregoing and other objects and advantages are achieved in practice will become more clearly apparent when reference is made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention set forth by way of example and shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numbers indicate corresponding parts throughout.